Law enforcement officers watch during a protest on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson on Aug. 18.Photo: Getty Images

Multiple witnesses in riot-torn Ferguson, Mo., said that the unarmed black teen killed by a white cop attacked the officer in his patrol car before the teen was shot, according to a new report.

“Police sources tell me more than a dozen witnesses have corroborated cop’s version of events in shooting,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch crime reporter Christine Byers tweeted, without elaborating.

Officer Darren Wilson has not spoken publicly about the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown shortly after Brown and a pal allegedly stole a $50 box of cigars in a strong-arm robbery at a convenience store.

But two friends have come forward to defend him — with one describing his version of events leading up to the killing.

A man who said he played hockey with the 28-year cop said on “Good Morning America” Tuesday that Wilson was a “really quiet, well-mannered, respectful guy” who showed no signs of violence.

Earlier, another friend who identified herself only as Josie called “The Dana Show” on radio station KFTK to say that Wilson told her the tall, burly Brown, 18, had “bum-rushed“ him before the shooting.

Josie — who said she heard the version from Wilson’s girlfriend — said the cop encountered Brown and his pal Dorian Johnson walking down the middle of a street, pulled up and ordered them onto the sidewalk.

Wilson then noticed the pair were carrying cigars, and had heard the report of the robbery and recognized the pair as possible suspects.

“And he’s looking at them and they got something in their hands and it looks like it could be what, you know, those cigars or whatever. So he goes in reverse back to them,” Josie said.

Wilson, she said, “tries to get out of his car. They slam his door shut violently. I think he said Michael did. And then he opened the car again. He tried to get out. He stands up.

“And then Michael just bum-rushes him and shoves him back into his car. Punches him in the face and then Darren grabs for his gun. Michael grabbed for the gun. At one point he got the gun entirely turned against his hip. And he shoves it away. And the gun goes off,” Josie said.

“Well, then Michael takes off and gets to be about 35 feet away. And Darren’s first protocol is to pursue. So he stands up and yells, ‘Freeze!’ Michael and his friend turn around. And Michael taunts him … And then all the sudden he just started bum-rushing him. He just started coming at him full speed,” she told the station.

“So [Wilson] really thinks [Brown] was on something, because he just kept coming. It was unbelievable. And so he finally ended up, the final shot was in the forehead, and then he fell about two to three feet in front of the officer,” she said.

An autopsy performed by the St. Louis County medical examiner determined Brown had marijuana in his system when he was shot.

But NBC News reported that 78 people had been taken into custody, citing arrest records.

State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson said at least one person from New York and another from California were among those busted, though cops on Tuesday provided no further details.

Two people were shot, though police were not involved.

“Our officers came under heavy fire. Not a single bullet was fired by officers,” Johnson during a news conference at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

But cops did fire multiple canisters of tear gas to disperse the rioters and prevent further looting.

“This nation is watching each and every one of us,” said Johnson, who was clearly angry during the news conference, The Post-Dispatch reported. “I am not going to let the criminals that have come here from across this country, or live in this neighborhood, define this community.”

She’s a Law-Abiding Single Mom With a Concealed Carry Permit — The Reason She Faces Over 11 Years in Jail Is Almost Unbelievable

A hard-working single mom from Philadelphia reportedly now faces more than 11 years in prison on multiple gun charges — but the details behind the charges have stunned people across the nation.

Shaneen Allen, a single mother to two young boys, is a legal concealed carry permit holder. She reportedly obtained her permit to protect herself and her kids after she was robbed twice. Allen has no prior criminal record and everything about her gun and concealed carry permit is legal.

My9NJ.com/Chasing New Jersey

My9NJ.com/Chasing New Jersey

However, her nightmare began when she traveled to New Jersey from Philadelphia.

Allen was reportedly pulled over by a New Jersey cop for an “unsafe lane change” back in October 2013. Doing what she had been trained to do, the mother informed the officer that she is a concealed carry permit holder and armed at the time.

What she didn’t know was that her permit and firearm became instantly illegal once she crossed into New Jersey, a state with extremely strict gun laws. As TheBlaze previously reported, the mother was arrested and at first faced about 3 years in prison.

Allen reportedly appeared in court this week and, to many people’s surprise, the case wasn’t dismissed by the judge. In fact, she now reportedly faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for possession a concealed weapon and another potential 18 months for possession of hollow-point bullets — more than 11.5 years in total.

My9NJ.com reports that the prosecutor wouldn’t even allow Allen to accept a pretrial deal in order to avoid jail time. Instead, the prosecutor reportedly offered her a plea bargain that includes five years in prison with no option of parole for 3.5 years.

Evan Nappen, Allen’s attorney, told the website that “New Jersey’s gun law is as unforgiving as a prosecutor or judge wants to make it.”

“Either of those two, the judge or the prosecutor could have taken steps to relieve Shaneen from this situation, but it didn’t happen,” he added.

An oath of ethical professional behavior sworn by new physicians and attributed to Hippocrates.

I swear by Apollo the Physician, Asclepius, Hygeia, Panaceia, and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill this oath and this covenant according to my ability and judgment: To regard him who teaches me the art of medicine as equal to my parents; to share my life with him and, if he is in need, my sustenance; to regard his children as my brothers and to teach them this art, if they wish to learn it, without fee or covenant; to give instruction, written, oral, and practical, to my sons and the sons of my teacher, as well as to any students who have signed a covenant and sworn an oath according to the canons of our profession, but to no others. I will apply therapeutic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment, and will abstain from harm and wrongdoing. I will not give a lethal drug to anyone requesting it, nor will I recommend the use of such. Likewise I will not give a woman an abortive drug. I will live my life and practice my art in purity and in holiness. I will not perform surgery, even on sufferers from stone, but will not interfere with those who engage in such work. Whatever houses I enter, I will do so for the benefit of the sick, refraining from all intentional wrongdoing and misconduct, particularly from sexual involvement with persons of either gender, whether free or slaves. I will not divulge anything of a private nature regarding people’s personal lives that I see or hear, whether in the course of my professional activities or not, because I recognize the shamefulness of revealing such information. If I carry out this oath and do not break it, may I find satisfaction in life and the practice of my profession and may I deserve honor among men forever. If I violate it and swear falsely, may the opposite be my lot.

To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant’s conduct must be ‘so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime. Depraved indifference focuses on the risk created by the defendant’s conduct,not the injuries actually resulting.

the People were required to establish also that defendant’s act was imminently dangerous and presented a very high risk of death to others and that it was committed under circumstances which evidenced a wanton indifference to human life or a depravity of mind. . . .

Yes WE THE PEOPLE find that Central Office of the Department of Children and Families: involved in the Justina Pelletier case have and are acting in imminently dangerous way and presented a very high risk of death to Justina Pelletier. Further more WE find that the DCF and ALL those involved in this case, that their action demonstrates a “callous disregard for human life” that may results in death. WE demand the immediate removal of DCF officials pending charges for the attempted second-degree murder of Justina Pelletier.

We will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible.
If you are writing to report a case of abuse or neglect, please call the Child At Risk Hotline at: 1-800-792-5200.
For a listing of local DCF offices , please visit: mass.gov/dcf.

Update:

Boston, MA – Today, A contempt of court motion was filed against the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) in the Justina Pelletier case.

Three weeks ago on March 3, Judge Joseph Johnston approved a written agreement transferring care to Tufts Medical Center. Despite this enforceable order, DCF still has not made appointments with Tufts. The Pelletiers have spoken several times to Dr. Korson, who was treating Justina before this debacle began, and they obtained an appointment date. Dr. Korson said that he wants to see Justina and resume her treatment immediately, but on Friday, March 21, DCF said it will not honor any appointments with Tufts until the judge rules on Tuesday.

“A child’s health and welfare are hanging in the balance. We cannot continue to withhold treatment from this young girl,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “It is obvious to everyone but DCF that this disease is physical, not psychiatric. DCF should stop delaying, obey the court order, and send her to Tufts for medical treatment today!” Staver continued.

The Pelletiers are preparing other legal pleadings to remove DCF from this case. “DCF has abused its authority. DCF had no right to come between Justina and medical care,” Staver said.

Last Monday, Mat Staver was in court before Judge Johnston. Two matters were brought up: (1) Staver’s (second) motion to be admitted to the case, and (2) a request to return Justina home to the parents. Judge Johnston said he would rule on both matters by the end of the week. On Friday afternoon, the clerk of the court stated the judge will rule next Tuesday. In 14 months, Judge Johnston has not issued a single written opinion. He continually kicks the can down the road.

On February 24, Mat Staver first appeared in the Boston court seeking to represent the family. DCF objected. The judge said that DCF had 48 hours to file any written objections. DCF did not, but the judge did not rule. “The delay tactics, hoping that the press will lose interest in this case, must cease. Justina must be returned to her parents’ custody and Tufts’ care,” Staver said.

The Boston Globe reported that Suffolk County juvenile court Judge Joseph Johnson granted“permanent” custody to the state DCF. This decision was in response to a motion filed by Lou and Linda Pelletier, Justina’s parents, and her court-appointed lawyer for a “conditional custody” plan. Up until this point, DCF only had temporary custody of Justina, which it had maintained for more than a year.

Mass Gov. Deval Patrick’s office:

Massachusetts State House

Office of the Governor Deval Patrick

Phone: 617.725.4005; 888.870.7770 (in state)

Fax: 617.727.9725

TTY: 617.727.3666

CT Gov. Dannel Malloy’s Office:

Phone: (860) 566-4840

Toll-Free: (800) 406-1527

Tdd: (860) 524-7397

Fax: (860) 524-7395

Address: State Capitol, 210 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Ct 06106

UPDATE:

“Please let me go home right now.”

Those are some of the first words that the public has ever heard from Justina Pelletier since she was taken out of her parents custody and into the care of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families 16 months ago.

“All I really want to be with is with my family and my friends,” Justina said in the video posted Sunday night.

“You can do it. You’re the one that’s judging this. Please let me go home Judge Johnson and Gov. Patrick,” Justina continued directing her comments to Suffolk County juvenile court Judge Joseph Johnston and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. “Please, right now. Please let me go home right now. I need to be home with my family and just please do it.”

Watch the video:

Justina’s video comes after she was allowed a brief visit at home and attended her sister’s dance recital over the weekend, Mahoney said. It also comes after the DCF filed a motion last week to reconsider and dismiss the case against Justina Pelletier’s parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier.

“We are pleased that the family has engaged around the reunification plan and we have filed papers in court to support our shared goal of bringing Justina home,” Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state’s Health and Human Services department, said in an emailed statement.

The teen’s parents lost custody of their daughter after a disagreement with Boston Children’s Hospital over a medical diagnosis. Since then, they have been fighting for her return in and out of court.

Mahoney told TheBlaze the next set date when Judge Johnston could rule on the case in light of DCF’s motion is June 20, but the family hopes for something sooner.

“The Pelletiers have completed all four elemnts of DCF reunification plan. Based on DCF filing this request for dismissal and the Pelletiers completing reunification plan, there is no reason at all why Justina should not be released immediately,” he said, noting that Father’s Day was coming up this Sunday.

While Mahoney could not comment on any further legal action that the Pelletiers might take, he said, that “one would expect the Pelletiers to use every recourse to hold government accountable to ensure this never happens again.”

A black reverend stiffed by the Cochran campaign has exposed an alleged criminal conspiracy by Cochran staffers to commit massive voter fraud ahead of Tuesday’s controversial U.S. Senate Republican runoff election in Mississippi.

Reverend Stevie Fielder, associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church and former official at Meridian’s redevelopment agency, says he delivered “hundreds or even thousands,” of blacks to the polls after being offered money and being assured by a Cochran campaign operative that Chris McDaniel was a racist. “They [the Cochran campaign] told me to offer blacks fifteen dollars each and to vote for Thad.”

It is illegal under several provisions of Mississippi law and federal law for campaign officials to bribe voters with cash and punishable up to five years in jail. (MS Code 97-13-1; MS Code 97-13-3 (2013) (Federal Code 18 U.S.C. 597, U.S.C. 1973i(c)) Voter fraud schemes are not unusual for Mississippi. In 1999 Mississippi’s attorney general reported massive voter fraud allegations throughout the Magnolia state. In 2011, a Mississippi NAACP leader was sent to prison for voter fraud, according to the Daily Caller.

It would seem that laws were broken here, too. At the direction of the Cochran campaign, Reverend Fielder went “door to door, different places, mostly impoverished neighborhoods, to the housing authorities and stuff like that,” telling fellow blacks that McDaniel was a racist and promising them $15 per vote. “They sold me on the fact that he was a racist and that the right thing to do was to keep him out of office,” Fielder says.

Text messages released to Got News and a recorded interview with Reverend Fielder confirmed that Saleem Baird, a staffer with the Cochran campaign and current legislative aide to U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, and Cochran campaign manager, Kirk Sims, were involved in a $15-per-vote cash bribery scheme to target members of the black community.

“They said they needed black votes,” said the Reverend Fielder on the phone. He says Baird told him to “give the fifteen dollars in each envelope to people as they go in and vote. You know, not right outside of the polling place but he would actually recruit people with the $15 dollars and they would go in and vote.” Fielder said he received thousands of dollars in envelopes from Baird and distributed them accordingly. Fielder also says he went to the campaign office on another occasion to pick up $300 in cash and was among a room full of people who were doing the same thing he was.

Fielder said that Saleem Baird was doing the same thing with people all over the state. Fielder believes that the racism charge against McDaniel and the promise of $15 a vote motivated ‘thousands’ of black Democrats like him to vote for Cochran in the runoff. When asked if Fielder would have been more suspicious of Baird’s promises had he been white, Fielder replied, “Yes, definitely.”

For his efforts, Fielder says the Cochran campaign and Baird promised him $16,000 for paying black voters $15 a vote, but Baird wound up stiffing him. Baird even asked him to delete all texts between the two of them. In addition to Baird, Fielder says he spoke with Kirk Sims, the Cochran campaign manager, and a woman named “Amanda” with the campaign, most likely Amanda Shook, director of operations to re-elect Thad Cochran. All refused to pay him the agreed upon amount of $16,000.

Baird realized he had been lied to when he “took a good look at the campaign ads” and realized “McDaniel was not a racist…me and other people were misguided and misled.”

Fielder confronted Saleem the weekend before the election and asked about whether or not McDaniel was actually a racist and Baird confirmed it. Baird “personally confirmed that McDaniel was a racist.” Baird ‘manipulated me to manipulate many other people,” says Fielder. Baird did not disclose that he worked as a paid legislative staffer for Senator Roger Wicker. Fielder also says he spoke with campaign manager Kirk Sims about getting paid and about the ethical complaints he had.

Fielder is a Democrat but said he has voted for Republicans in the past. And though Fielder is being paid for his story by Got News, he says he’d come forward anyway. “I thought what I did was wrong.” Fielder said he was motivated mostly by concerns that McDaniel was a racist, not money.

As to what should happen next, ‘definitely the election should not be allowed to stand,” says Fielder, who says he’ll support McDaniel in event of a special election. ‘He’s been done wrong. He’s not what they said that he is.’

Got News tried calling both Baird and Sims with Fielder on the line. We got through to Sims but Sims insisted that there was a bad connection when Fielder asked about the racist smear campaign against Chris McDaniel and hung up. Were Baird found to have violated any laws in this matter, this would not be his first time he had a brush with the wrong side of the law. In 2011, Baird, who is a legislative staffer with U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, was allowed to keep his job with the senator after being arrested on charges of running an illegal strip joint in Jackson.
Fully aware that we have helped reveal the Cochran campaign may be involved in a criminal conspiracy, Got News will turn over any and all evidence to law enforcement.

ISIS has formally declared the establishment of a caliphate, or Islamic state, in the vast stretches of the Middle East that have fallen under its control, and has outlined plans to expand into Europe and beyond.

Upon declaring a caliphate, the Sunni militants – whose brutality in attempting to establish control in Iraq and Syria has been branded too extreme even by Al Qaeda – demanded allegiance from Muslims around the world.

With brutal efficiency, ISIS has carved out a large chunk of territory that has effectively erased the border between Iraq and Syria and laid the foundations of its proto-state.

Scroll down for video

+10

Caliphate: A map purportedly showing the areas ISIS plans to have under its control within five years has been widely shared online. It includes Spain, the Balkan states, the Middle East, North Africa and large areas of Asia

+10

Announcement: ISIS militants (pictured) have formally declared the establishment of a caliphate, or Islamic state, in the vast stretches of the Middle East that have fallen under its control

+10

+10

Leader: ISIS declared the group’s chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pictured left and right), the head of the new caliphate under the name Caliph Ibrahim and called on all Muslims around the world to swear loyalty to him

+10

Extremist: A gun-brandishing Islamist loyal to ISIS celebrates the announcement of the Islamic State by waving an Islamic flag in the Syrian city of Raqqa yesterday. The area is considered ISIS’ main operational base

The announcement, made on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, could trigger a wave of infighting among Sunni extremist factions that have until now formed a loose rebel alliance.

A spokesman for ISIS declared the group’s chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the leader of the new caliphate, or Islamic state, and called on Muslims everywhere, not just those in areas under the organization’s control, to swear loyalty to him.

‘The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph’s authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas,’ said Abu Mohammed al-Adnani.

‘Listen to your caliph and obey him. Support your state, which grows every day,’ he added in an audio statement posted online.

Al-Adnani loosely defined the state territory as running from northern Syria to the Iraqi province of Diyala – a vast stretch of land straddling the border that is already largely under ISIS control.

He also said that with the establishment of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq, Sham and the Levant.

Muslim extremists have long dreamed of recreating the Islamic state, or caliphate, that ruled over the Middle East, North Africa and beyond in various forms over the course of Islam’s 1,400-year history.

ISIS declares itself a caliphate as unrest continues in Iraq

+10

Support: Following ISIS’ demands that Muslims around the world declare their allegiance to the caliphate, some already appear to be doing so. This photograph, apparently taken in the Netherlands, has been share online by ISIS supporters

+10

Execution: With brutal efficiency, ISIS has carved out a large chunk of territory that has effectively erased the border between Iraq and Syria and laid the foundations of its proto-state

IN DECLARING A CALIPHATE, ISIS NOW CLAIMS TO LEAD ALL MUSLIMS

A caliphate is an Islamic state ruled by a ‘caliph’ – in this case Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – who is seen as the successor to Prophet Mohammed by those swearing allegiance.

In much the same way as the Pope is considered the head of the Catholic church, a caliph would consider themselves leader of the world’s Muslims.

They would hold themselves responsible for establishing policy – based strictly on the Quran – for all Muslims and territories.

One of the first things ISIS did after announcing a caliphate was to declare all emirates and sultanates illegal.

Therefore anybody swearing oath to the new Islamic state would simultaneously be declaring that they no longer recognise either the borders, laws or authority of current Muslim-led states.

On announcing the Islamic state, the militants repeatedly described it as being ‘restored’.

This is a reference to the last widely-acknowledged caliphate – which existed under the Ottoman Empire and effectively ended with the founding of Turkey in 1923.

Many Islamists – including ISIS – blame this collapse on the geographical carving-up of the Ottoman Empire by Allied Forces after the First World War.

In declaring a caliphate, ISIS now claims to partly ‘corrected’ the century-old dispute.

It was unclear what immediate impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, though experts predicted it could herald infighting among Sunni militants who have joined forces with the Islamic State in its fight against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Shiite-led government.

‘Now the insurgents in Iraq have no excuse for working with ISIS if they were hoping to share power with ISIS,’ said Aymenn al-Tamimi, an analyst who specializes in Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. ‘The prospect of infighting in Iraq is increased for sure,’ he added.

The greatest impact, however, could be on the broader international jihadist movement, in particular on the future of Al Qaeda.

Founded by Osama Bin Laden, the group that carried out the September 11 attacks on the U.S. has long carried the mantle of the international jihadi cause.

But the Islamic State has managed to do in Syria and Iraq what Al Qaeda never has – carve out a large swath of territory in the heart of the Arab world and control it.

‘This announcement poses a huge threat to al-Qaida and its long-time position of leadership of the international jihadist cause,’ said Charles Lister, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center.

‘Taken globally, the younger generation of the jihadist community is becoming more and more supportive of [ISIS] largely out of fealty to its slick and proven capacity for attaining rapid results through brutality,’ he added.

Al-Baghdadi, an ambitious Iraqi militant who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head, took the reins of ISIS in 2010 when it was still an Al Qaeda affiliate based in Iraq.

+10

Brazen: An ISIS fighter holds a jihadist flag in one hand and an assault rifle in the other in a public square in the Iraqi city of Mosul last week

+10

Protests: The group has called for Muslims around the world to swear their allegiance to the Islamic state. In Shi’ite-dominated Iran, however, there have been widespread demonstrations against the Islamist militants

+10

Fighting back: Members of Kurdish security forces sit in a vehicle as they keep guard during clashes with ISIS militants in the village of Basheer in Iraq yesterday

Since then, he has transformed what had been an umbrella organization focused mainly on Iraq into a transnational military force.

Al-Baghdadi has long been at odds with Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri, and the two had a very public falling out after al-Baghdadi ignored al-Zawahiri’s demands that the Islamic State leave Syria.

Fed up with al-Baghdadi and unable to control him, al-Zawahiri formally disavowed ISIS in February.

But al-Baghdadi’s stature has only grown since then, as his fighters strengthened their grip on much of Syria, and have now overrun large swathes of Iraq.

The Islamic State’s declaration comes as the Iraqi government tries to wrest back some of the territory it has lost to the jihadi group and its Sunni militant allies in recent weeks.

On Sunday, Iraqi helicopter gunships struck suspected insurgent positions for a second consecutive day in Tikrit – the predominantly Sunni hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

The Iraqi military launched its push to wrest back Tikrit – a hotbed of antipathy toward Iraq’s Shiite-led government – on Saturday with a multi-pronged assault spearheaded by ground troops backed by tanks and helicopters.

Today she helps manage her sons’ political careers, after a storied career of her own as a community activist and a stint as San Antonio Housing Authority ombudsman.

Castro wrote fondly of those early days at Stanford and basked in the slogans of the day. “‘Viva La Raza!’ ‘Black and Brown United!’ ‘Accept me for who I am—Chicano.’ These and many other powerful slogans rang in my ears like war cries.” These war cries, Castro believes, advanced the interests of their political community. He sees her rabble-rousing as the cause for Latino successes, not the individual successes of those hard-working men and women who persevered despite some wrinkles in the American meritocracy.

Rosie named her first son, Julian, for his father whom she never married, and her second, who arrived a minute later, for the character in the 1967 Chicano anti-gringo movement poem, “I Am Joaquin.” She is particularly proud that they were born on Mexico’s Independence Day. And she was a fan of the Aztlan aspirations of La Raza Unida. Those aspirations were deeply radical. “As far as we got was simply to take over control in those [Texas] communities where we were the majority,” one of its founders, Jose Angel Gutierrez, told the Toronto paper. “We did think of carving out a geographic territory where we could have our own weight, and our own leverage could then be felt nation-wide.”

A bit on Jose Angel Gutierrez – Jose Angel Gutierrez, professor, University of Texas, Arlington; founder of La Raza Unida political party; and beneficiary of American generosity: “We have an aging white America. . . . They are dying. . . . They are ******** in their pants with fear! I love it!” “We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him.”

Removing all doubt, Gutierrez repeated himself often. “What we hoped to do back then was to create a nation within a nation,” he told the Denver Post in 2001. Gutierrez bemoaned the loss of that separatist vision among activists, but predicted that Latinos will “soon take over politically.” (“Brothers in Chicano Movement to Reunite,” Denver Post, August 16, 2001).

Gutierrez made clear his hatred for “the gringo” when he led the Mexican-American Youth Organization, the precursor to La Raza Unida. According to the Houston Chronicle, he “was denounced by many elected officials as militant and un-American.” And anti-American he was. “We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to worst, we have got to kill him,” Gutierrez told a San Antonio audience in 1969. At around that time, Rosie Castro eagerly joined his cause, becoming the first chairwoman of the Bexar County Raza Unida Party. There’s no evidence of her distancing herself from Gutierrez’s comments, even today. Gutierrez even dedicated a chapter in one of his books to Ms. Castro.

One of La Raza’s most powerful leaders, Frank Shaffer-Corona, an at-large member of the Washington, D.C. school board, even visited communist Cuba for a conference on Yankee imperialism and conferred with Marxists in Mexico. He was prone to conspiracy theories, decrying the “pervasive influence of the Central Intelligence Agency on American politics and what he says is a conspiracy of the multinational corporations against all minorities and the people of Latin America,” in the words of the Washington Post. (“His Pitch: Populism, and Very Latino; Shaffer-Corona Unruffled After Trip to Cuba,” Washington Post, August 28, 1978). The radical organization’s second most successful candidate, Texas gubernatorial aspirant Ramsey Muñiz, remains in prison on drug charges. La Raza Unida members periodically call for him to be pardoned, saying without evidence that the corrupt Muñiz is a “political prisoner.”)

Now the interesting thing is that Saudi Oil backed Citibank is a major donor to “La Raza” and their influence is HIGH in Mexico to the wealthy Latinos.

Carlos Pelayo, another founder of La Raza Unida, clung to communism even after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, telling a San Diego paper that “the desire of people for social justice will never end.” “If it doesn’t work [the Soviet Union’s] way, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t work,” he said. “So we capitalists have 20 different cereals and Nike shoes. Over there [in the Soviet Union], they have free education, free medical care.” (“Fall of Communism Fails to Deter Local Communists,” San Diego Union Tribune, September 14, 1991)

Is Ms. Castro repentant in the slightest over her involvement with La Raza Unida? Not in the least. She sees the rise of her sons’ political fortune as the fulfillment of her promise—some say threat—in 1971 when she lost her bid for San Antonio city council: “We’ll be back.” “When Julian was installed, it was just such an incredible thing to be there because for years we [the Chicano activists and La Raza Unida] had been struggling to be there,” she told Texas Monthly in 2002. “There was so much hurt associated with being on the outside. And I don’t mean personal hurt, but a whole group of people [the activists] being on the outside—the educational, social, political, economic outside.” Now she has not just one, but two men on the inside—her sons.

Castro’s speech below:

My fellow Democrats, my fellow Texans, my fellow Americans: I stand before you tonight as a young American, a proud American, of a generation born as the Cold War receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution and determined to re-elect the man who will make the 21st century another American century — President Barack Obama.

The unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. My brother Joaquin and I grew up with my mother Rosie and my grandmother Victoria. My grandmother was an orphan. As a young girl, she had to leave her home in Mexico and move to San Antonio, where some relatives had agreed to take her in. She never made it past the fourth grade. She had to drop out and start working to help her family. My grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter, barely scraping by, but still working hard to give my mother, her only child, a chance in life, so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one.

As my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. She prayed to God for just one grandbaby before she died. You can imagine her excitement when she found out her prayers would be answered — twice over. She was so excited that the day before Joaquin and I were born she entered a menudo cook-off, and she won $300! That’s how she paid our hospital bill.

By the time my brother and I came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to read and write in both Spanish and English. I can still see her in the room that Joaquin and I shared with her, reading her Agatha Christie novels late into the night. And I can still remember her, every morning as Joaquin and I walked out the door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us, saying, “Que dios los bendiga.” “May God bless you.”

My grandmother didn’t live to see us begin our lives in public service. But she probably would have thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in San Antonio, one grandson would be the mayor and the other would be on his way — the good people of San Antonio willing — to the United States Congress.

My family’s story isn’t special. What’s special is the America that makes our story possible. Ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation. No matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward.

America didn’t become the land of opportunity by accident. My grandmother’s generation and generations before always saw beyond the horizons of their own lives and their own circumstances. They believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity tomorrow. That’s the country they envisioned, and that’s the country they helped build. The roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won — these opened the doors to a decent job, a secure retirement, the chance for your children to do better than you did.

And that’s the middle class– the engine of our economic growth. With hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there. And with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there — and go beyond. The dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to Americans. It’s a human dream, one that calls across oceans and borders. The dream is universal, but America makes it possible. And our investment in opportunity makes it a reality.

Now, in Texas, we believe in the rugged individual. Texas may be the one place where people actually still have bootstraps, and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. But we also recognize there are some things we can’t do alone. We have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow.

And it starts with education. Twenty years ago, Joaquin and I left home for college and then for law school. In those classrooms, we met some of the brightest folks in the world. But at the end of our days there, I couldn’t help but to think back to my classmates at Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio. They had the same talent, the same brains, the same dreams as the folks we sat with at Stanford and Harvard. I realized the difference wasn’t one of intelligence or drive. The difference was opportunity.

In my city of San Antonio, we get that. So we’re working to ensure that more four-year-olds have access to pre-K. We opened Cafe College, where students get help with everything from test prep to financial aid paperwork. We know that you can’t be pro-business unless you’re pro-education. We know that pre-K and student loans aren’t charity. They’re a smart investment in a workforce that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. We’re investing in our young minds today to be competitive in the global economy tomorrow.

And it’s paying off. Last year the Milken Institute ranked San Antonio as the nation’s top performing local economy. And we’re only getting started. Opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow.

Now, like many of you, I watched last week’s Republican convention. They told a few stories of individual success. We all celebrate individual success. But the question is, how do we multiply that success? The answer is President Barack Obama.

Mitt Romney, quite simply, doesn’t get it. A few months ago he visited a university in Ohio and gave the students there a little entrepreneurial advice. “Start a business,” he said. But how? “Borrow money if you have to from your parents,” he told them. Gee, why didn’t I think of that? Some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents, but that shouldn’t determine whether you can pursue your dreams. I don’t think Gov. Romney meant any harm. I think he’s a good guy. He just has no idea how good he’s had it.

We know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. What we don’t accept is the idea that some folks won’t even get a chance. And the thing is, Mitt Romney and the Republican Party are perfectly comfortable with that America. In fact, that’s exactly what they’re promising us.

It doesn’t just pummel the middle class — it dismantles it. It dismantles what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. When it comes to getting the middle class back to work, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to respecting women’s rights, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to letting people marry whomever they love, Mitt Romney says, “No.” When it comes to expanding access to good health care, Mitt Romney says, “No.”

Actually, Mitt Romney said, “Yes,” and now he says, “No.” Gov. Romney has undergone an extreme makeover, and it ain’t pretty. So here’s what we’re going to say to Mitt Romney. We’re going to say, “No.”

Of all the fictions we heard last week in Tampa, the one I find most troubling is this: If we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. Because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead. We all understand that freedom isn’t free. What Romney and Ryan don’t understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it.

Republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too. Folks, we’ve heard that before. First they called it “trickle-down.” Then “supply-side.” Now it’s “Romney-Ryan.” Or is it “Ryan-Romney”? Either way, their theory has been tested. It failed. Our economy failed. The middle class paid the price. Your family paid the price.

Mitt Romney just doesn’t get it. But Barack Obama gets it. He understands that when we invest in people we’re investing in our shared prosperity. And when we neglect that responsibility, we risk our promise as a nation. Just a few years ago, families that had never asked for anything found themselves at risk of losing everything. And the dream my grandmother held, that work would be rewarded, that the middle class would be there, if not for her, then for her children — that dream was being crushed.

But then President Obama took office — and he took action. When Detroit was in trouble, President Obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs. Seven presidents before him — Democrats and Republicans — tried to expand health care to all Americans. President Obama got it done. He made a historic investment to lift our nation’s public schools and expanded Pell grants so that more young people can afford college. And because he knows that we don’t have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of deportation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers.

I believe in you. Barack Obama believes in you. Now it’s time for Congress to enshrine in law their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they’ve ever called home: America.

Four years ago, America stood on the brink of a depression. Despite incredible odds and united Republican opposition, our president took action, and now we’ve seen 4.5 million new jobs. He knows better than anyone that there’s more hard work to do, but we’re making progress. And now we need to make a choice.

It’s a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay less — or a country where everybody pays their fair share, so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. It’s a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts Pell grants — or a nation that invests more in education. It’s a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship American jobs overseas — or a leader who brings jobs back home.

This is the choice before us. And to me, to my generation and for all the generations to come, our choice is clear. Our choice is a man who’s always chosen us. A man who already is our president: Barack Obama.

In the end, the American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay. Our families don’t always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. But each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. My grandmother never owned a house. She cleaned other people’s houses so she could afford to rent her own. But she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. And my mother fought hard for civil rights so that instead of a mop, I could hold this microphone.

And while she may be proud of me tonight, I’ve got to tell you, mom, I’m even more proud of you. Thank you, mom. Today, my beautiful wife Erica and I are the proud parents of a three-year-old little girl, Carina Victoria, named after my grandmother.

A couple of Mondays ago was her first day of pre-K. As we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom, and I found myself whispering to her, as was once whispered to me, “Que dios te bendiga.” “May God bless you.” She’s still young, and her dreams are far off yet, but I hope she’ll reach them. As a dad, I’m going to do my part, and I know she’ll do hers. But our responsibility as a nation is to come together and do our part, as one community, one United States of America, to ensure opportunity for all of our children.

The days we live in are not easy ones, but we have seen days like this before, and America prevailed. With the wisdom of our founders and the values of our families, America prevailed. With each generation going further than the last, America prevailed. And with the opportunity we build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, America will prevail.

It begins with re-electing Barack Obama. It begins with you. It begins now. Que dios los bendiga. May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi has been detained by Mexican authorities since March 31, when he says he accidentally drove across the border with three legally registered firearms in his vehicle. Much of his time has been spent in La Mesa Penitentiary, one of Mexico’s most dangerous and notorious prisons.

On Monday, Tahmooressi called Glenn Beck from prison with the help of his mother, Jill Tahmooressi, for a live radio interview about the circumstances that led to his arrest, and what has happened since. The 25-year-old also divulged a number of disturbing new details about his confinement.

“I was put in a small cell that was meant for six people,” Tahmooressi told Beck, speaking calmly throughout the entire interview. “There was about 15 to 20 people in there. … There were murderers in there, and kidnappers and drug dealers and all these people. And there I was, someone who’s not a criminal, never done a crime before, never been to prison. I was nervous.”

Tahmooressi said the other inmates threatened to rape and kill him, terrorizing him until, he said, he was “fearful to the point where my heart was pounding and I couldn’t have gotten a single word out if I had to yell for help.” Tahmooressi said he knew if he stayed in that cell, he was “not going to see tomorrow.”

That was the night he tried to escape.

Jill Tahmooressi has shared with TheBlaze how she received a gut-wrenching phone call that day from her son. She said he begged her not to come down and investigate if he didn’t survive, or she would be killed, too.

Tahmooressi didn’t make it far before he was was caught and shot at by a prison guard, at which point he surrendered.

“After that, I got punished physically for maybe, like, 20 minutes to 30 minutes,” Tahmooressi told Beck. “After that I was stripped naked and I was handcuffed, both my legs and my hands around the post of a bunk bed. And I was there for maybe 12 hours, or maybe 10 hours, overnight, you know, shivering in the cold, naked.”

Tahmooressi said the next day, one of his legs was chained to one wall, and his arm was chained to a separate wall roughly 2 feet above his head.

“I was there with my hand dangling above my head with no circulation going to my — or a very minimum circulation — going to my fingers there for about maybe, I think it was maybe 24 hours with no food, no water,” he continued.

Tahmooressi said that after all the threats he had received, he was still afraid the prisoners were going to find him and torture him for information about his family.

“So I said I’m not going to let them do that,” Tahmooressi told Beck. “There was a light bulb on the ceiling, and I took this light bulb and I broke it and I stabbed myself in the neck. I said I’m not going to let them take my life, I’m going to take my own life. That was my train of thought then. And I was there on my knees praying with blood pouring out of my neck, puddled on the floor, and thankfully, thank God, the prisoners were outside the door and I think they heard the smash of the light bulb, and they came in. And I blacked out from there, and I remember waking up on a bed in a room in the prison with IVs in my arms.”

After Tahmooressi received medical care, he was sent back to solitary confinement where his hands and feet were handcuffed to a bed for roughly 30 days.

Beck asked Tahmooressi if he could give him his word that he is innocent, and that he had no illicit intentions in Mexico.

“God as my witness I was not there doing any criminal activity,” Tahmooressi said. “I had no intent on doing any harm or breaking any laws or selling any guns or anything of that sort. I’ve never been like that before in my life. I’ve always been a peaceful, loving man and I don’t break the law. I did not intend to do anything of that sort at all.”

“I think it’s just a matter of time, just a matter of me going to court and I think they’re going to realize that I’m not guilty,” he said. “And I think it’s gonna move pretty quick from here, I hope.”

Beck and his radio co-hosts remarked on how calm Tahmooressi was throughout the interview, saying he didn’t seem bitter or out of control in any way.

“He’s not angry. He’s not a guy who’s saying crazy thing things, accusing everybody of everything,” Stu Burguiere remarked. “He’s calm. He’s rational. This seems like an obvious case of one wrong turn. And how this takes 63 days to turn around, I don’t understand.”

The full episode of The Glenn Beck Program, along with many other live-streaming shows and thousands of hours of on-demand content, is available on just about any digital device. Get it all with a FREE TRIAL.

What is the difference between a baby and a onion?
No one cries when you chop up the baby.

What is the difference between a dead baby and a water melon?
One’s fun to hit with a sledge hammer, the other one’s a water melon.

What is the difference between a baby and a dart-board?
Dart-boards don’t bleed.

What is the difference between a baby and a mars bar?
About 500 calories.

Why did the family take the dead baby along on the cookout?
So they could light it and toast their marshmallows.

Why was the dead baby kept in the kitchen drawer?
The family used it to crack nuts.

Why do people keep dead babies in the rec. room?
They cut off one leg and use it as a ping pong paddle.

Why do you put babies into blenders feet first?
So you can see the expression on their faces.

Why do they boil water when a baby is being born?
So that if its born dead they can make soup.

Why did the baby cross the road?
It was stapled to the chicken.

How many babies does it take to make a bottle of baby oil?
It depends on how hard you squeeze them.

How many babies fit in a blender?
Depends on how powerful the blender is.

How do you know when a baby is dead?
It doesn’t cry if you nail its feet to the ceiling

How do you find the live baby in a pile of dead ones?
Jab ’em all with a pitchfork.

How do you save a drowning baby?
Harpoon it.

How do you turn a baby into a dog?
Pour gas over it and light a match. Woof.

How do you turn a baby into a cat?
Freeze it solid, then run it through a bandsaw. Meeow.

How do you get 100 babies into a bucket?
With a blender.
How do you get them out again?
With Doritos.

How do you make a dead baby float?
Take your foot off its head.
or:
A glass of soda water and 2 scoops of baby.

What do you call two abortions in a bucket?
Blood brothers.

What is red and is creeping up your leg?
An abortion with homesickness.

What is a foot long and can make a woman scream?
Stillbirth.

What is a foot long, blue, and makes women scream in the morning?
Crib death.

What do you call a dead baby pinned to your wall?
Art.

What is red, bubbly, and scratches at the window before exploding?
A baby in a microwave.

What is blue and yellow and sits at the bottom of the pool?
Baby with slashed floaties.

What is red and yellow and floats at the top of the pool?
Floaties with a slashed baby.

What is red and hangs around trees?
A baby hit by a snow blower.

What is green and hangs around trees?
Same baby 3 weeks later.

What is pink and red and silver and crawls into walls?
A baby with forks in its eyes.

What is pink and goes black with a “hiss.”?
A baby thrown into a furnace.

What is brown and gurgles?
A baby in a casserole.

What is purple, covered in pus, and squeals?
A peeled baby in a bag of salt.

What is black and goes up and down?
A baby in a toaster.

What is red and hangs out of the back of a train?
A miscarriage.

What is red and goes round and round?
A baby in a garbage disposal.

What is red and swings back and forth?
A baby on a meat hook.

What is red, screams, and goes around in circles?
A baby nailed to the floor.

What is red and sits in the corner?
A baby with razor blades.

What is blue and sits in the corner?
A baby in a baggie.

What is black and sits in a corner?
A baby with it’s finger in a power socket.

What is green and sits in the corner?
Same baby two weeks later.

What is black and charred?
A baby chewing on an extension cord.

What is black and white, runs around the room, and smokes?
A baby with his hair on fire.

What is blue and flies around the room at high speeds?
A baby with a punctured lung.

What is cold, blue and doesn’t move?
A baby in your freezer.

What is pink, flies and squeals?
A baby fired from a catapult.
What do you call the baby when it lands?
Free pizza.

What is red and has more brains than the baby you just shot?
The wall behind it.

What is white and glows pink?
A dead baby with an electrode up its ass.

What is more fun than nailing a baby to a wall?
Ripping it off again.

What is more fun than throwing a baby off the cliff?
Catching it with a pitchfork.

What is more fun than swinging babies around on a clothesline?
Stopping them with a shovel.

What is more fun than shoveling dead babies off your porch?
Doing it with a snow blower.

What sits in the kitchen and keeps getting smaller and smaller?
A baby combing it’s hair with a potato peeler.

What bounces up and down at 100mph?
A baby tied to the back of a truck.

What goes plop, plop, fizz, fizz?
Twins in an acid bath.

What is red and pink and can’t turn round in a corridor?
A baby with a javelin through its throat.

What is little and can’t fit through a door?
A baby with a spear in its head.

What is the definition of fun?
Playing fetch with a pitbull and a baby.

What has 4 legs and one arm?
A doberman on a children’s playground.

What has 10 arms and blood all over it?
A pitbull in front of a pile of dead babies.

What is red and pink and hanging out of your dog’s mouth?
Your baby’s leg.

What present do you get for a dead baby?
A dead puppy.

What is grosser than ten dead babies nailed to a tree?
One dead baby nailed to ten trees.

What is worse than a dead baby in a trash can?
100 dead babies in a trash can.
What is worse than that?
There’s a live one at the bottom.
What is worse than that?
It eats its way out.
What is worse than that?
It comes back for seconds.

Know what’s gross?
Running over a baby with a truck.
Know whats worse?
Skidding on it.
Worse than that?
Peeling it off the tires.

What is the worst part about killing a baby?
Getting blood on your clown suit.

The Break-Up of the American Family Can Be Traced Directly Back to Liberalism

RUSH: Eric, Newtown, Connecticut. It’s great to have you on the program. Hello.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. I really do appreciate you taking calls, giving the few the opportunity to speak to the millions.

RUSH: Well, I’m glad you waited. I appreciate your patience.

CALLER: I gotta also give you a huge pat on the back, too. I’m not sure… You know, fame, it doesn’t come in one flavor that everybody wants a piece. What you’re doing is really a courageous thing for truth, simply being truthful. It’s quite a burden that you have to carry to do that. I really appreciate it. But the point I wanted to make, Rush, was that the problem that’s going on in this country right now is broken hearts.

These people, these dysfunctional females are making these young people. Everyone starts off with youth, and if they don’t have a father who’s showing them how to do life, they want to cling to anything. They really do trust Obama, period! They trust him, and, let me tell you, they’d reelect him. I know. I live and work with these people. They really would reelect Obama right now.

They don’t care about the Constitution.

They don’t care about how many people died for them to have the right to do anything that’s going on around them. It’s an every-man-for-himself existence that they live right now, and it really is a sad thing. If people looked at it from this point of view, the people who have had Pops… God bless him. Like you’ve shared so much of your life, your personal life with us, Rush.

Not everybody had Pops in their life. I did have a strong moral father in my life, but that’s where we learned how we don’t have to be afraid, and then where did we learn our morals from? We learned it in the church! There’s a whole other thing that young people and people in general want to stay away from because that’s the place where people gonna get judged.

RUSH: I know.

CALLER: There’s no judging these people. That’s like a personally attack!

RUSH: I know. People have not been taught to take risks. They have not been taught to learn how to get along on their own.

CALLER: They’re scared to death, Rush, and they trust Obama. You know, it’s not happening by accident, this whole Obamacare thing. It’s not called the Affordable Health Care Act for nothing.

RUSH: I know. It’s called the Obama phone. It’s called Obama stamps.

CALLER: It’s because they trust him.

RUSH: Well, look, that argument that he made is irrefutable when applied certain people. He’s basically saying that the breakup of the traditional family causes it. He’s focused on lack of father ’cause they’re the ones that vamanos mostly and the government comes right in and assumes the role of father — and it doesn’t just affect young boys, Eric. Single women likewise end up looking at government as provider, protector, you name it.

None of the rest matters. You exactly right. “Constitution? The hell with that! Free speech? I don’t care! Where is my phone? I don’t care! Where are my food stamps or whatever. I mean, you gotta eat, and you’ve got to live, and I don’t care about the Fourth Amendment and searches and seizures. I don’t care! Where am I gonna get my whatever?” So I know. That’s also by design, by the way.

The breakup of the family, you can trace it. You can trace this. You can trace it right back to 1964 and the Great Society and Lyndon Johnson. You can trace it. You can trace the bust-up of the family — you can trace the dissolution of black families, you can trace the rampant increase in poverty, you can trace the amount of money that has been transferred to deal with these inequalities and inequities — and you will see that all of this “charity” quote/unquote has just given rise to the need for more of it.

A Missouri-based gun manufacturer announced this week that it will release a line of “New York Compliant” rifles, a market-based response to the Empire State’s strict new gun laws.

“With the continual trampling of the 2nd Amendment in New York, Black Rain Ordnance is proud to announce their ‘New York Compliant’ rifles,” the group said in a statement on its website. “These rifles feature all of the quality and craftsmanship of the standard BRO-lines, but with the added features that allow for legal possession.”

And if Black Rain’s move to create rifles that comply with New York’s new guns laws, which have been described as some of the “nation’s toughest,” sounds familiar, it should: They’re not the only company to move in this direction, and stories of such guns have been popping up since May 2013.

In fact, several New York-based gun shops have, for example, offered to replace the grip on non-complaint rifles so that they’re square with state’s laws.

“The modified gun still fires at the same rate and with the same power; the shooter just holds it slightly differently,” the Guardian reported. “These modified weapons do not have to be registered with the state.”

One gun maker in Rochester, N.Y., Just Right Carbines, manufactures modified semi-automatic rifles that comply with the New York’s Safe Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January 2013.

Just Right Carbines’ general manger, Anthony Testa, told the Guardian that New York authorities signed off on the modified rifles, telling him that his products complied with the law.

The Safe Act, which was the result of the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that claimed the life of 27 people, bans the sale of so-called “assault weapons” and requires that everyone who already owns a rifle categorized as such to register them with the state by 15 April 2014.

An oath of ethical professional behavior sworn by new physicians and attributed to Hippocrates.

I swear by Apollo the Physician, Asclepius, Hygeia, Panaceia, and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill this oath and this covenant according to my ability and judgment: To regard him who teaches me the art of medicine as equal to my parents; to share my life with him and, if he is in need, my sustenance; to regard his children as my brothers and to teach them this art, if they wish to learn it, without fee or covenant; to give instruction, written, oral, and practical, to my sons and the sons of my teacher, as well as to any students who have signed a covenant and sworn an oath according to the canons of our profession, but to no others. I will apply therapeutic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment, and will abstain from harm and wrongdoing. I will not give a lethal drug to anyone requesting it, nor will I recommend the use of such. Likewise I will not give a woman an abortive drug. I will live my life and practice my art in purity and in holiness. I will not perform surgery, even on sufferers from stone, but will not interfere with those who engage in such work. Whatever houses I enter, I will do so for the benefit of the sick, refraining from all intentional wrongdoing and misconduct, particularly from sexual involvement with persons of either gender, whether free or slaves. I will not divulge anything of a private nature regarding people’s personal lives that I see or hear, whether in the course of my professional activities or not, because I recognize the shamefulness of revealing such information. If I carry out this oath and do not break it, may I find satisfaction in life and the practice of my profession and may I deserve honor among men forever. If I violate it and swear falsely, may the opposite be my lot.

On February 25, 2014, ANJRPC announce the launch of its Permitting StrikeForce™ program—an ambitious statewide initiative to address firearms permitting abuses throughout the entire Garden State. The program is aimed at ending, once and for all, the extensive delays, unauthorized conditions, and other widespread abuses plaguing the issuance of firearms ID cards and handgun purchase permits.

“We are serving legal notices covering each and every one of New Jersey’s 565 municipalities, informing them of their obligations in no uncertain terms,” said ANJRPC Executive Director Scott Bach. “Once we complete this legal sweep of the entire state, we intend to systematically crack down on specific abuses town by town until they are addressed.”

The notices will facilitate possible legal action against non-compliant towns, and include a detailed 10-page analysis of current law, together with copies of controlling legal documents, including an important new court decision forbidding additional conditions on permit applications beyond what state law already requires. Many towns impose outrageous, unauthorized conditions including employer notification, spousal consent, disclosure of all household member names, and passing a written exam.

Many municipalities also ignore state law requiring application decisions within 30 days; some applicants wait over 8 months or longer before getting a decision. Other municipalities improperly ration handgun purchase permits, which is explicitly prohibited. Some towns also deny applications based solely on residency in public housing

“Permitting authorities need to understand that we have entered a new era after the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the Heller and McDonald cases,” said Bach. “It is unlawful to interfere with Second Amendment rights by abusing the permitting process, and ANJRPC will spare no effort or expense to stop further abuse.”

ANJRPC first began addressing permitting issues on a case-by-case basis in 2009. Recent legal developments made it viable to launch ANJRPC’S Permitting StrikeForce™ as the first-ever comprehensive compliance sweep over the entire state. The program is synergistic and complementary with the efforts of other organizations on permitting issues.

ANJRPC’s Permitting StrikeForce™ needs YOU! Please tell us about unauthorized conditions, delays, permit rationing, and public housing denials in your town. Your identity will be protected, but your input will help us get the job done! Please email strikeforce@anjrpc.org or leave a message at (973) 697-9270. Please include as much detail as you can, including (if possible) the following:

Municipality, Town, or Barracks

Type of Permit applied for (FID or Handgun Purchase Permit)

Date application was submitted & current status

What was submitted (what forms, documents, etc.)

Copies of unusual forms or requirements (if available)

Detail all contact with permitting authority since submission (dates, content, contact name, what you were told, etc.)